Sippin wrote:
HMMM.... woulda been a great deal 18 years ago, eh?
$120 per year or $300 for the rest of the game's life? Will EQ last 3 more years at least? Will I keep playing 3 more years?
Now if I were a cynic I'd fear that DBG is already planning to shut down the game in the next year or two and this is a last-gasp grab at cash. I'm sure the fine print makes clear there are absolutely no refunds if/when the game is terminated. Youze takes your chances! In fact, a real solid gold cynic would see this offer as a dangerous harbinger of the future. But I'm not that much a cynic... I don't think!
The irony is this. How many of you remember when you could use Station Cash to buy subs and when EQ used to do double and trip Station Cash promotions? And when at one time Walmart had a promo as well so for a limited time, like a weekend or one week, you could buy QUADRUPLE STATION CASH? Plus you could credit it toward multiple year subs? I did this years ago and extended all my subs for at least 5 years at basically 1/4 normal sub price, so basically under $3 per sub per month. And at the time I figured either the game or my interest wouldn't last beyond the 5 years. Well, that had to have been 10 years ago and I'm still here and now paying "full" price.
So gotta think about this lifetime sub, at least for my main...
Anyone else considering this deal? They're only offering FOUR THOUSAND of them and you know I would not be entirely shocked if they sell out quickly...
I don't really fear that Daybreak is in that bad of shape to say they need to shut down EQ anytime soon. I believe they have cut costs enough by moving things to virtualized servers and such to where running the game is very efficient to where they are making a decent profit off the game. If the game wasn't making a profit, we would see layoffs affecting the EQ team. The same probably goes for their other games as well. I think what this deal encompasses is the fact that they are trying to inflate their Q4 quarterly profits first for this year, and then trying to hold onto customers due to the fact we're possibly heading into another recession. Many more great games are also scheduled to release soon that might have an impact on their games so thinking ahead is a wise decision.
Nantworks
made a deal with Daybreak not long ago to make a mobile game based on EQ and I don't think they would do that if they thought Daybreak was in financial trouble of shutting their games down. They are actually investing into Daybreak to make new products and I think that's a good sign for the company as a whole for all their games.
Yes the recent layoffs look bad from my perspective as a customer. I hate for people to lose their jobs, but I think Daybreak management probably realized that developing whatever game they were working on was a decision that would ultimately lead them down a bad road for the long term health of the company as a whole for all their games. For H1Z1 layoffs, the market quickly got saturated with the same type of games and stole H1Z1's thunder, it's unfortunate but it happens. I don't think Daybreak has much to worry about that for their other games. I don't see many companies trying to make similar games of Daybreak's other games.